Showing Old Form, Mussina Impresses

By BUSTER OLNEY

Published: March 24, 2003

TAMPA, Fla., March 23 &#0151; Rain drove away the fans, the other players and the umpires, but Mike Mussina wanted to pitch a game this afternoon. The Yankees' exhibition against the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland was canceled, so Mussina returned to the Yankees' complex to throw a simulated game.

The leadoff hitter was Rich Monteleone, the Yankees' bullpen coach, and the pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre followed. Neither of them actually swung a bat, however; each simply stood in the batter's box of a dimly lit indoor cage while Mussina's fastball repeatedly cracked the mitt of the bullpen catcher Mike Borzello.

Mussina had great stuff, much better than he ever had last spring. Monteleone bent back slightly from an inside pitch, and Mussina's curveball veered away from him, diving over the plate. "Wow," Monteleone mouthed.

Mussina would get the ball back, signal the pitch he intended to throw &#0151; a wave of the glove for a fastball, a curl for curveball, a swipe for a cutter &#0151; before drawing both hands upward and beginning his motion. Almost every pitch he threw was down. It took Mussina more than four months last season to find rhythm and control like this, and by then his season could not be completely salvaged.

Mike Flanagan, Mussina's former pitching coach in Baltimore, once said he had never seen a pitcher who could correct his mechanics from pitch to pitch as well as Mussina. But last year, for the first time in his career, Mussina struggled with his mechanics for months. Mussina's earned run average reached 5.03 in May and was 5.35 in June and 5.22 in July, before receding to 4.11 in August and 1.48 in September. He finished the season with an 18-10 record, knowing he might have won 22 to 25 games if he had thrown better.

"To me, it's night and day from last year," he said, "because I know what happened coming out of spring."

Mussina threw 228&#0160;2/3 innings for the Yankees in 2001 and started four games in the postseason. The World Series extended into November, and Mussina figured that with the short off-season, he would be better off pacing himself through January and February. He believed he would be able to regain his command in spring training and be ready for the season.

But late in March, Mussina struggled to control both his curveball, the pitch that sets up his fastball, and his fastball, a pitch he can sometimes use to bail out his breaking ball. He could feel himself rushing through his delivery at times.

"I fell into some bad habits," he said. "I felt that, right during spring training, that it was mechanical, and somewhere along the way, it became mental."

Mussina resumed his regular program this off-season, throwing in an indoor cage at his Pennsylvania home. When Mussina arrived in spring training, he and Stottlemyre talked about throwing consistently on a downward plane &#0151; to help his breaking pitches, to generate a few more ground balls, to keep his fastballs exploding. He feels great now, just seven days from the outset of the season, and Stottlemyre thinks he looks great.

Mussina wanted to maintain his throwing program, which is why he decided to return here today and throw six innings, 90 pitches, resting four minutes between innings. Sometimes it can be difficult to judge a pitcher's stuff when he is throwing indoors, no batters swinging at him.

Not today. "Wow," Stottlemyre said repeatedly, standing in the batter's box.

INSIDE PITCH

Manager JOE TORRE fined right fielder RAUL MONDESI an undisclosed amount for missing Saturday's game. Torre permitted Mondesi to leave last Wednesday's game in the middle innings to catch a flight to the Dominican Republic, Mondesi's home, and take two days off. Mondesi said he arrived at the airport too late to catch a return flight to Tampa on Saturday. Torre met with Mondesi for three minutes and said the situation was over, noting that Mondesi had adhered to team rules since coming to the Yankees last summer. But Mondesi said Torre was outwardly displeased in their short meeting, and he seemed concerned with Torre's reaction. "What did he say?" Mondesi asked reporters, softly cursing under his breath. "Was he mad?" Mondesi continued: "I don't worry about the money. I've been doing good the last couple of weeks, but now we're back to square one." . . . ROGER CLEMENS has been slotted into the No. 1 spot in the rotation throughout spring training, and Torre announced Clemens's standing as the opening day starter next week. "I'm 40 years old, I'm in my 20th year," Clemens said, "and I'm starting for what I consider the best team, the richest in tradition and history." . . . The Yankees signed pitchers MIKE THURMAN and WILLIE BANKS to minor league contracts. They are expected to open the season in Class AAA.